Emmitt Smith: One thing '90s Cowboys had that current squad lacks

Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (22) celebrates a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings at Texas Stadium in 1998.

Staff reports

Published: 04 February 2013 01:23 AM

Updated: 04 February 2013 01:23 AM

Former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith joined 105.3 KRLD-FM last week to talk about the state of the Cowboys. Here are some highlights:

On what the Cowboys’ biggest need is:

How about consistency. Consistency is something that
everybody needs in their lives, and the Dallas Cowboys can start off 4-0 and go
into October and lose three games, that’s not good. But if you can start off
4-0 and go into October and win two of the four games, that’s pretty decent.
But if you go into October after starting off winning four games and go into
October and you lose all four games, that’s never good. That’s not consistency.
Consistency to me is something that you see in the Baltimore Ravens and
something you see also in the 49ers. That’s why they’re [in the Super Bowl].

On the Cowboys' identity:

The identity is not seen in the Cowboys. The Cowboys don’t
know who they are. They are the Cowboys, but I don’t think they really know. We
had an identity when we played football, and our identity went around the run,
the pass and our defense. Everything had an identity. You knew what you were
getting. I knew every week that I was going to get that ball in my hands 15 to
20 times. I knew that. I was going to touch the ball somewhere between 20 and
30 times. … I knew we were going to have that balance. I’m not sure that the
Cowboys are that confident in what they can do in the run game. You don’t see a
run game. Without a run game, it makes it very, very tough for Tony Romo and
for anything good to happen for the Dallas Cowboys. And in my opinion, I don’t
think Romo should throw the ball no more than 30 or 35 times a game, but you’ve
got to be able to have that running game to go along with it.

On if DeMarco Murray can be the guy to give the Cowboys a
good running game:

He is that guy if he can stay healthy. And if he’s not, we’ve
got to find somebody that can. I don’t know if they trust Felix Jones that
much. If they did, then Felix would have 25 carries. But he doesn’t. That tells
me that they don’t trust him that much.

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